


The Digital Age

by Mousecookie



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Harrisco Fest 2018, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, they meet through a dating app
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 14:50:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16874883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mousecookie/pseuds/Mousecookie
Summary: “The hat,” Cisco repeated. “Lose it. You look like a serial killer. Like, full-on Sylar.”





	The Digital Age

**Author's Note:**

> First thing I've actually posted on A03! Originally from Harrisco Fest 2018 on tumblr for the prompt 'they meet through a dating app'. And yes, I did move Hurricane Maria back a few years for plot convenience.

It was May of 2015 and the hottest new dating app on the scene was called MeetCute.  It was simple, fun, and highlighted the interests its members had in common - a familiar recipe, but with fresh packaging it skyrocketed to popularity anyway.

Cisco hadn’t gotten around to making a MeetCute profile yet. He was busy diving headfirst into his new job at Mercury Labs, which was quite a change of scene after having spent three years in Puerto Rico aiding in reconstruction and fortification of the electric grid.  When his friends pestered him he said he didn’t have time for dating.  It was mostly true, if a bit lonely. 

Several of his friends had already joined MeetCute, however, so when Cisco stopped by Jitters one afternoon for a pick-me-up (dark roast, splash of cream) and to work on his laptop for a few hours, he wasn’t surprised to see Wally West there with a pretty brunette.  Wally had been brainstorming potential profile taglines with Cisco and Barry just last week - apparently he’d finally taken the plunge.

Cisco decided this deserved congratulations via text.

_< Told you that you wouldnt have any trouble on MeetCute ;-) >_

Wally’s phone buzzed where it lay on the table between him and the Pretty Girl, but surprisingly he turned it over without looking at it.  This girl must be special - Wally was usually glued to his phone regardless of company.  Cisco grinned to himself and typed out another message:

_< Oooh, boyyy looks like you got it BAD>_

This was immediately confirmed when at the resulting text alert, Wally smiled an apology to Pretty Girl and actually stuffed his phone into his bag and out of sight.  Cisco could see the approval on Pretty Girl’s face.   _Nice going, kid,_ he thought.

Giving his friend one last mental thumbs up, Cisco took his coffee and went to find a table - he  _had_  actually come here to work.  The upstairs was filled in so he picked a spot far enough away that Wally wouldn’t be embarrassed to look up and see him there.

He’d been working for about 20 minutes when Black Hat came in.  Or rather, stalked in.  Cisco had never seen someone try and subsequently fail so hard to be inconspicuous.  The tall, wiry man was dressed in black from head to toe with his cap pulled low over his eyes.  For a few wild seconds Cisco wondered if he was about to stick up the place – a coffee shop? really? – but Black Hat only went to the counter and ordered a drink like a normal patron.  He took his drink (black coffee – of course, Cisco snorted) and settled a few tables away.  

Cisco kept half an eye on him.  Black Hat’s cap did little to conceal his pale, handsome face, especially as he twisted in his chair to look around the coffee shop for something or someone.  He looked familiar but Cisco couldn’t think from where.  Cisco followed Black Hat’s gaze as he scanned the tables on the upper floor and over by the front counter, before eventually landing on the window seats where Wally and Pretty Girl were still deep in conversation.  Pretty Girl laughed at something Wally said, a small flush appearing in her cheeks.  Wally looked shyly pleased with himself.  God, the two of them were adorable.

Black Hat didn’t seem to agree.  The mostly neutral expression he’d been wearing when he walked in turned sour and he tightened his grip on his untouched coffee.  Okay, weird, Cisco thought with some alarm.  Why would he be angry about Wally and Pretty Girl?  Well, there was one obvious possible reason: white girl on a date with a black guy.  With some resignation Cisco mentally flagged the man as “possible racist asshole” and quickly scanned nearby tables for more data.  

With some relief he spotted another black-white biracial couple nearby, at a table Black Hat had briefly looked over and dismissed.  Okay, so maybe not a racist asshole.  Just an asshole then? One with an axe to grind with Wally?  Or with Pretty Girl?  These options were still problematic.  Cisco abandoned the pretense of working and watched Black Hat for any further signs of active aggression.  

He sent another text to Wally, < _creeper at your 9 o’clock >, _though he knew it would likely be ignored like the first two.

Black Hat continued to lurk and stare at the couple, oblivious to Cisco’s scrutiny and growing alarm.  Finally Cisco had had enough.  He slammed his laptop shut and strode over to Black Hat.

“Okay, what is your deal?!” Cisco hissed.

Black Hat startled, then pinned laser blue eyes on Cisco.  “What do you mean,” he said, a little raspy.  Ugh, he even sounded like a stalker.

“I mean, why are you totally creeping on that couple over there?  Not cool, dude!”  

Cisco jabbed a finger at him in what he hoped was an intimidating manner.  Unfortunately, Black Hat didn’t seem phased, and leaned closer to hiss back.

“I am not  _creeping_.  That girl is my daughter, and she’s here meeting a random stranger from the internet.  I’m here to make sure she doesn’t get  _kidnapped and murdered._ Is that alright with you, you interfering jackwagon?”  It wasn’t a question.  More of a threat.  It seemed earnest.

“Oh my god, you’re a helicopter parent,” Cisco said with relief. “I thought you were some kind of stalker.” He frowned. “I mean, you still kind of are.  Does your daughter know you’re here?”

“No,” Black Hat replied without a trace of shame.

Clearly he had boundary issues.  And he still seemed so familiar - but from where--?  Cisco’s mind itched, but the light bulb refused to switch on and so he put it aside again.

“Well she’s gonna look up and see you eventually, Mr. Urban Camouflage Failure,” Cisco retorted, then winced. “Ooh, bad name, don’t quote me on that.”

Black Hat was not impressed.

“She'll only look up if you keep  _drawing attention to me_ , so if you could stop being an overly concerned citizen...?”

He pointedly made a shooing motion.

“Hey now, I never agreed to be an accomplice for your familial stalking,” Cisco protested. “Also, I’m not some random bystander.  The guy your daughter’s with is a friend of mine, and he’s a good kid.  He doesn’t deserve getting sniped by his date’s creepy, overstepping father.”

“ _I_ decide what’s overstepping with my child,” Black Hat snapped. “And I’m not going to take any chances.”

Cisco deserved so many beers from Wally once the kid was old enough to buy them.  He took a deep breath, pulled a chair up to Black Hat’s table, and sat down.

“Okay, clearly you’re very protective and feeling some stress here.  But if your daughter’s old enough to sign up for MeetCute, she’s an adult and capable of making her own judgement calls.”

If she hadn’t been old enough, Cisco doubted Black Hat would have been content to lurk from afar.  

“And I’m serious, Wally’s a good kid.  You don’t have to worry.”

Black Hat only glared, “Why should I trust your opinion on that?”

“Yeah okay, maybe you shouldn’t,” Cisco conceded. “But have you thought about trusting your daughter?  Or even just actually looking at what’s in front of your face, instead of trying to burn a hole through Wally with your eyes?”

Cisco gestured towards the window tables, where Wally was showing Pretty Girl something from a graph-ruled notebook - schematics for one of his eco-engine designs, most likely.  Pretty Girl looked thoughtful and made a few additions to the page. ( _Smart_ Pretty Girl, Cisco mentally amended).  The pair was soon absorbed in an increasingly animated discussion that involved scribbling back and forth on the paper until Wally exclaimed “That’s it!  We got it!” and shared a triumphant high-five with an equally-pleased Smart Pretty Girl.

When Cisco looked back at Black Hat, the man was wearing a proud little smile.  “That’s my Jesse Quick,” he murmured, his eyes soft.  Maybe there was hope for him yet.  Also, Cisco finally had a name for Smart Pretty Girl: Jesse.  (And why did that sound familiar too?)

“So will you leave them alone?” Cisco asked instead.

“Ohhh no, I’m staying right. Here.” Black Hat said, tapping the table with his index finger.  Cisco sighed.  At least now the guy looked contemplative instead of murderous?  As though hearing his thoughts, Black Hat swiveled to pin him again with that icy stare.

“And what exactly were  _you_  doing here, anyway?” he accused. “Surely not checking up on your friend Mr. West-” because of  _course_  he knew Wally’s full name, “-after all your preaching about giving them space.”

“I was drinking coffee and working,” Cisco deadpanned, “You know, like people do sometimes in coffee shops.”

“Well, you can go back and keep doing that now.”  Black Hat tried once again to shoo him away.  Cisco wasn’t having it.  But he  _was_  going to have Wally’s eternal gratitude later.

“You know, if you’re gonna run parental surveillance, you really have to get better at it,” Cisco said.  “Lose the hat, and let me grab my stuff.”

“What?”  The man squinted at Cisco as he rounded up his work laptop, backpack, and coffee (sadly gone cold) from where he’d been sitting before and carted it back to Black Hat’s table.

“This - is the opposite of what I just told you to do,” Black Hat said.  

He seemed genuinely befuddled.  The man must not get told “no” often.  Well, Cisco was happy to break that trend for him.

“The hat,” he repeated. “Lose it. You look like a serial killer. Like, full-on Sylar.”

Black Hat still looked equal parts confused and suspicious, but he slowly pulled the cap off and ran a hand through his short, dark hair.  After a moment he also produced a pair of distinctive angular-framed glasses from his pocket and put them on.  Suddenly the familiarity clicked, and Cisco kicked himself for not seeing it sooner.

“You’re Harrison Wells,” Cisco realized, a little stunned.  “Holy Hannah, you totally just reverse Clark Kent-ed me.”

Cisco had seen the man’s face on the cover of Tech Global magazine just last year, crammed into the precarious bookshelves of his favorite cafe in a barrio of San Juan.  He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, too busy with the grueling work of fortifying the area’s high-voltage substation and distribution lines.

Black Hat - no,  _Dr. Harrison Wells, founder of STAR Labs_  - leveled him with a flat stare.

“For someone critiquing my sneaking skills, you’re pretty slow on the uptake.”

Okay, Cisco deserved that one.  But only a little!

“Hey, I wasn’t exactly thinking about tech moguls when I was evaluating you for  _stranger danger,”_ he defended.

“Well now you know,” Wells said irritably. “Want an autograph?”  

As Wells turned back to the window to watch Wally and Jesse again, Cisco ruthlessly suppressed the little part of his brain that wanted to squeak ‘yes!’.  A sycophant wasn’t going to keep the man distracted.

Instead he drawled, “Not really.  Hiya, Harry. I’m Cisco Ramon.”

“That’s nice,” Wells -  _Harry_ said, not sounding very nice at all. “There’s no need for you to join me, Mr. Ramon.”

“There is, if you want your daughter not to hate you for stalking her.  Now try to look like a normal person and if she catches you, you can say you just walked in for coffee and work, like me.”  Cisco shoved an extra notebook across the table.

Harry was still skeptical.  “Jesse already hates me. And she’d never believe that line, she’s much too smart. And why, exactly are you offering to help?” he continued impatiently, “I thought you didn’t agree to be an ‘ _accomplice to familial stalking_ ’.”  He made exaggerated air quotes to fully convey his disdain.  Cisco found himself suppressing a laugh.

“Oh, this is damage control for Wally, and by extension Jesse because she seems like a nice girl,” he replied cheerfully. “The less you ruin their date, the better.”

“How noble of you,” Harry ground out, turning away.

“So what do you think of Mercury Labs’ new research on overcoming quantum field confinement with forced dark matter collisions?” Cisco asked, apropos of nothing.

To Cisco’s immense satisfaction, Harry was shocked into looking back at him.  

He stared at Cisco.  “You’re familiar with dark matter.”

“I should hope so. Mercury Labs shouldn’t hire just anyone to run their new advanced engineering division.”

And wow, he had Harry’s full attention now.  He could practically see gears working in that famous brain.

“You’re the Ramon that Tina was bragging about hiring.”  

Cisco made a mental note that his new boss Dr. Tina McGee was apparently on first-name speaking terms with her main industry competitor.  And that she _was bragging about Cisco_ to him - as a recent hire that was very flattering (and reassuring) to hear.  He decided to do something nice for her later.

“Yep, that’s me,” he said, “If I recall, the STAR Labs HR department never even bothered to send a rejection letter to my application - guess my grid stabilization work in Puerto Rico didn’t impress.  Must be why I haven’t thought much about you guys since then.”

It seemed Harry couldn’t resist the dig, because he started grilling Cisco about his field of expertise with increasing irritation.  Cisco fired back answers as fast as Harry could ask questions, grinning all the while.

* * *

“Oh my god, that’s my dad,” Jesse gasped.  

“What?!”

Wally smothered his instinctive panic and craned his neck to follow Jesse’s line of sight to a tall, dark-haired man who was talking furiously with-

“That’s my friend Cisco,” he blurted.  “The one I mentioned earlier who just started at Mercury Labs.”

The tall guy - Jesse’s dad - seemed grumpy, but Cisco was all smiles.  He was clearly loving whatever argument they were having.

“I can’t believe Dad followed me.  He’s  _so_  overprotective,” Jesse griped.  

 _Please, please, don’t make me meet her angry father on the first date_ , Wally begged every deity he knew.  _I really like this girl._

Trying to remain outwardly calm, he said, “Oh! That’s... nice.  That he cares so much.  Hey, what do you think he’s doing talking with Cisco?  I know Cisco comes here to get work done sometimes, it was probably him texting me earlier.”

He busied himself with checking his phone, blushed faintly at Cisco’s “you got it BAD” comment, and and tilted the screen to show Jesse  _only_  the last message: “creeper at your 9 o’clock”.

“Looks like he went to call out your dad on being all... stalker-y.”

“Huh.  Doesn’t look like they’re talking about us right now,” said Jesse, watching her father and Cisco.  After a few moments her assessing gaze turned sly.  “I think they might be having their own  _real_  meet-cute.  Dad never spends this long arguing with someone unless he likes them.”

She considered, then added casually, “My dad owns STAR Labs, so I’m sure they have lots in common to talk about.”

“Wait, you’re Jesse  _Wells_?”  And just like that Wally’s panic was back in full-force.  He’d just worked on an engine design with  _Jesse Wells_?

“I like you even better for not knowing that,” Jesse smiled at him. “Wanna get out of here? I’ll text my dad so he doesn’t think you kidnapped me.  And this is probably the only chance we’ll get to leave without him seeing where we went.  I just disabled the tracker in my phone.”

“Uh, yeah,” Wally stammered, a little shy again. “That’d be great.”  Jesse was great.

* * *

 Meanwhile, Cisco was having more fun than he’d had in ages.

“So obviously, there’s no way that you could overcome the color confinement principle, unless you used-” Cisco stopped to gasp, at the same time as Harry slapped a hand on the table--

“Residual power frequencies,” they said in unison.  Harry abruptly stood up.

“Hey, hey, where are you going?” Cisco was a little hurt, in spite of himself.

“To fire my head of HR,” replied Harry. He glanced at the window. “And activate the back-up tracker in my daughter’s phone.” He smiled fondly, “She always finds the first one.”

“Oo-kay, wow, we still need to work on your boundary issues.” 

“We? Ramon, we just spent the last half hour talking about how you _don’t_ work for me.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”  Cisco contemplated. “And it’s probably best if it stays that way.  After all,” he took a deep breath, “it’s generally considered inappropriate to date your boss, right?”

“Date? Ramon, what?”  Harry spluttered.  Cisco was really starting to enjoy turning Harrison Wells stupid.

“Come on, this was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Have dinner with me. I still need to tell you everything that’s wrong with the external-facing grid components of the STAR Labs accelerator.”  After a beat he added, “Also please don’t fire your HR guy, I’m not leaving Mercury.”

He saw the conflict churn in Harry’s face.

“Tina won’t be happy you’re spilling information to a rival lab,” Harry said.

“Mercury isn’t building a high-GeV particle accelerator like yours,” Cisco shrugged.  “Sharing my expert opinion will just mean the city will be safer if you bring it online.”

“ _If_ I bring it online?!” The outrage was back.

“Like I said,” Cisco grinned. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Harry’s expression was thunderous.

“ _...Fine_.” he gritted out at last.

“What?”  Now Cisco was the one wrong-footed - he hadn’t been expecting it to be that simple.

“I said  _fine_ , Ramon. You’re buying.”  He stole one of Cisco’s pens and scrawled a phone number and a time on the cover of his notebook.  Cisco recovered just enough to quip,

“Aw, looks like it was actually  _you_  who wanted to give  _me_  an autograph.”

“I’m regretting this already,” Harry scowled, jammed his black cap back on his head, and strode for the door.  As he shoved it open he called back, “Don’t be late, Ramon.”

“I won’t,” Cisco murmured, mostly to himself.  He ran a finger over the fresh intents of Dr. Harrison Wells’s phone number on his notebook, feeling a bit like he’d stepped into an alternate universe.

< _Wally >_ he texted, < _You’re not gonna believe what just happened >_

This time he promptly got a reply.

< _Haha I think I have some idea. dude you have serious game, but like, for old genius dudes apparently >_ a pause, then, < _Jesse says her dad likes big belly burger >_

< _A man of distinguished tastes, obv > _Cisco sent back. < _tell her thanks >_

He debated his next missive for a moment, then typed,

_< In the spirit of giving back, tell her there’s a 2nd tracker in her phone. have fun you kids! :-P >_

_< Srsly?? ugh> _Wally replied,  _< And haha yeah w/e dude :-PP go get ready for your date with a grumpy old man. Also me and Jesse might stalk it, fair’s fair>_

Cisco laughed, and started packing up his things.  There was no way he was getting any more work done today.

* * *

_7 months later_

It was December of 2015 and the Mercury Labs holiday party was in full swing. The lights were lit, the halls were decked, and the eggnog was thoroughly spiked.  Cisco nursed a cup of said eggnog while he made slow rounds chatting with friends and acquaintances - Dr. McGee (”Oh, call me Tina, it’s Christmas”), Caitlin and Ronnie, Dibny (he kept that one brief) and a few others.

Raucous laughter sounded from nearby.  Cisco ducked and swooped to avoid some of his co-workers who were surprising people with mistletoe - wasn’t _that_  an HR nightmare waiting to happen - before wandering back to the refreshments table.  As he reached for the punch ladle, two familiar long arms wrapped around his middle and lips brushed his temple.

“You’re late,” Cisco grinned, leaning back into the embrace.

“Prototype exploded. You know how things are.” Harry’s voice held a smile.

“Yeah I do,” Cisco replied fondly.  He turned in Harry’s arms to look at him properly.  “ _Mm_ , you clean up nice.”

Harry was indeed unfairly handsome in a simple black suit and tie.

“You’re not so bad either,” Harry replied, thumbing the burgundy velvet of Cisco’s blazer before leaning down to steal a soft, lingering kiss. Cisco hummed and tilted up his chin to steal it right back.

He reluctantly pulled away with one last peck. “Alright, let’s introduce you to some people.”

Harry scoffed. “These people already know who I am. Or they should.”

“Wow, there goes my plan to introduce you as my demure and modest partner.”

“I’m not demure. Or modest.  False modesty is unbecoming.”

“You’re such a charmer, Harry.  Anyone tell you that?”

“All the time.”

“I’m regretting this already,” Cisco laughed.  

Together they sought out some of Cisco’s friends and closer co-workers.  Most of them did already know who Harry was, but few knew his connection to Cisco and they wanted all the story.  Cisco started to feel parched from all the talking.  Harry magnanimously stepped away to get him a drink - Cisco knew he was also eager to escape the inane pleasantries.

While Cisco was waiting he bumped into Tina again.  Perfect timing - after all, finally telling his boss that he was dating Mercury’s leading rival was really the whole point of bringing Harry here.  Cisco quashed a little flutter of nerves.  Everything would be fine.

“Still having a good time I hope?” Tina asked, smiling at Cisco over her glass of brandy.

“Yeah, just waiting for my date to get back,” Cisco replied, aiming for casual.

“Oh, I didn’t know you brought someone.”  Tina looked curious - Cisco hadn’t ever directly mentioned a girlfriend or boyfriend to her before.

“Yeah, uh, I’ve been planning to tell you officially with conflict of interest paperwork and everything, but I wasn’t sure you’d believe me-”  

Cisco was cut off when Harry reappeared at his side, sliding one hand comfortably to Cisco’s lower back and offering him a mug with the other.  Cisco assumed it was more spiked eggnog and waved it off.

“Oh no, I’m done-”

“It’s cranberry juice, buttercup.” Harry ignored Cisco’s indignant expression in favor of greeting Tina with a smug smile. “Dr. McGee.”

“You scoundrel, Harry Wells,” declared Tina, in (mostly) mock disapproval. “I should have known you’d find some way to steal my top engineer even if he still works for me.”

“Can you blame me?  I know a good thing when I see it.” Harry pulled Cisco a little closer. “Though you’ll be pleased to know that he’s irritatingly silent about Mercury’s proprietary initiatives.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” replied Tina primly.  “I know who I hired.” Cisco felt his nervousness ease a little.  She wasn’t angry, then.  

Tina continued, “But now to the real question: how on earth did you two meet?”

“Dating app,” Harry deadpanned.  

Tina’s eyebrows rose.  “ _Really_?”

“Well,” laughed Cisco. “Yes.  But also no.”

He launched into the explanation for what felt like the tenth time that night.  It was a story he was getting used to telling, and he hadn’t stopped enjoying it yet.


End file.
